‘The View’ airs minus Star Jones Reynolds
New York
THE daytime soap that is “The View” took another turn Wednesday when it aired without co-host Star Jones Reynolds, who was asked not to return to the ABC gabfest after ambushing producers a day earlier with a surprise announcement about her departure.
Reynolds, whose contract was not renewed for next season, was originally set to tell viewers about her impending departure on today’s program and then remain on the show until July. But she caught co-hosts Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck by surprise Tuesday when she interrupted a segment on air-conditioning to say that she would not be coming back in the fall. Later in the day, People magazine posted on its website an interview in which Reynolds said she felt like she had been fired.
In response, the network asked her not to return to the daytime chat show.
By Wednesday morning, Reynolds’ picture had already been edited out of the opening of “The View,” and Walters came out on stage with just Behar and Hasselbeck.
“And then there were three,” Walters said somberly, as the giddy studio audience quickly hushed.
Walters, co-executive producer of the 9-year-old program, spent the first few minutes explaining Reynolds’ absence, calling it a “very difficult” and “sad day.”
“We didn’t expect her to make the statement yesterday,” the longtime ABC newswoman said. “She gave us no warning. And we were taken by surprise. But the truth is that Star has known for months that ABC did not want to renew her contract and that she would not be asked back in the fall.”
Reynolds’ dramatic departure comes just weeks after co-host and moderator Meredith Vieira signed off from the program to jump to NBC, where she has been tapped to replace Katie Couric on “Today” starting this fall. Rosie O’Donnell is joining “The View” in September to replace Vieira.
Walters said ABC executives had decided not to renew Reynolds’ contract for “a variety of reasons, which I won’t go into now.” In media reports Tuesday, she was quoted saying that the network soured on Reynolds last fall after research showed that viewers had been turned off by her drastic weight loss and her 2004 wedding, which featured donated items from companies that she then promoted.
On Wednesday, Walters told viewers that she hoped to “protect Star” by not publicly discussing the reasons for her departure.
“We told her that she could say whatever she wanted about why she was leaving and that we would back her up,” Walters said. “We worked closely with her representatives, and we gave her time to look for another job. And we hoped that she would announce it here on the program and leave with dignity. But Star made another choice. And since her announcement yesterday, she has made further announcements that have surprised us.
“So it is becoming uncomfortable for us to pretend that everything is the same at this table. And therefore, regrettably, Star will no longer be on this program.”
Walters went on to note that “ ‘The View’ helped make Star a star and Star helped make ‘The View’ the success that it is, and we will never forget that. We wish her well in this new chapter of her life.”
A spokesman for Reynolds did not return a call for comment by press time, but Reynolds told Ryan Seacrest on L.A.’s KIIS-FM (102.7) on Wednesday that Walters “didn’t have my back.” Reynolds said she was hurt that producers decided to bring on O’Donnell -- who has criticized Reynolds’ claims of how she lost weight, among other things -- as a new co-host.
An ABC spokeswoman said neither Walters nor any other member of the program had any other comment. Producers were said to be evaluating what to do about a replacement.